Dancing House- What Makes It So Special?

The dancing house or commonly called Fred and Ginger, named after popular dancers, was designed by renowned architect Frank-O-Gehry. The building was designed in 1992 and the construction completed in 1996. It is located at a beautiful location by the River Vltava in Prague.

It gains a lot of attraction being located at the center of the city. It has unique, modern design among historically styled buildings around it. The building is used as an official building. It also has a 21-room luxury hotel and a restaurant at the top floor providing a magnificent look of the beautiful river. There is also an art gallery in the building. The building has total nine floors plus two basement floors.

The building represents the famous dancers Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers. The glass tower represents Ginger and the rock and concrete tower represents Fred. The dancing irregular shape is supported by many concrete panels, each of different shape and dimension.

The architect has a very unique, unusual style and is termed as deconstructivism. The design has an aesthetic appeal with irregularly aligned windows.The new non-traditional building also became very controversial as it was nowhere like other Gothic buildings of the city. People argued that it does not fit into the context of the surrounding.

The location of the building has historical significance. The site was destroyed during U.S. bombing in 1945. The structure lay ruined and neglected till 1960 after that the area was cleared. It took many years to get the plot reconstructed.

Fred and Ginger was the original name used by Gehry, but the nickname `The Dancing House’ became more popular. It is also featured on a gold 2000 Czech coin. It won Time Magazine’s design contest in 1997. The building gained a lot of praise and appreciation.

Some other works of Frank Gehry

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is located at Los Angeles, California and is the fourth hall for music centre, designed by Frank O Gehry. It was opened for public on October 24, 2003. It has the capacity of 2,265 people and serves, among other purposes.

TheLou Ruvo Center for Brain Health(LRCBH), started on May 21, 2010 in Las Vegas and is operated by Cleveland Clinic, designed by world- famous Architect Frank Gehry. It is one of the most important charity work and an important participant in the nation's fight for Alzheimer. The Center also serves as the headquarters for Keep Memory Alive, the Las Vegas Alzheimer's Association and the Las Vegas Parkinson's Disease Association.

The Vitra Design Museumis a privately owned museum at Germany. VitraCEO and his son founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. Gehry has used his trademark deconstructivist style for the museum building and opt for white plaster and zinc titanium alloy.